RACING STUDY PUTS STUDENTS ON RIGHT TRACK

Horse racing is big business in the United States and Canada. The betting at tracks totaled an estimated $8.1 billion last year, up from $5.27 billion a decade ago.

''Betting averages about $100 a person,'' said Christopher Scherf, director of the service bureau of Thoroughbred Racing Associations in Lake Success, N.Y.

Other aspects of racing, such as track admissions and food concessions, account for $20 more from each patron. These figures do not include money generated at 45 parimutuel harness-racing tracks or the large amounts spent breeding horses.

There are about 100 thoroughbred racetracks, Scherf said. In a new trend, he said, many tracks stay open all year or most of the year, which means more jobs.

How many jobs are there at racetracks? Don`t take any bets, because no one knows for sure, but Scherf says the Belmont track in New York accounts for 3,000 jobs, ranging from grooms to general managers.

For the last 10 years, the University of Arizona has offered the nation`s only racetrack industry study program, supported by several racing organizations. The program includes undergraduates and candidates for master`s degrees.

It currently is a 15-credit-hour option that can be added to another major, but Gary Amundson, who is working for his doctorate and is a coordinator of the program, wants the university to let the course become an undergraduate major in conjunction with animal-science courses.

Amundson, a graduate of Montana State University with a master`s degree in vocational education, expects about 60 students to take the course this fall. Six will be in the master`s degree program.

Some of the courses in the program are organization of racetrack facilities, racing law, racetrack tax and investments, and racetrack business. Beginning salaries for those with bachelor of science degrees start at $15,000. Graduates with MBAs earn $25,000 or more.

One graduate is Jane Murray, who grew up in a family that raised show horses. Since 1981 she has worked at Quad City Downs, a harness track open from March to November in East Moline, Ill.

Her first job was placing judge. Next came a promotion to horse owners`

bookkeeper and a stint in the accounting department, handling payrolls. Now, she is clerk of course, which means she is a licensed racing official.